The Department of Defense announced today that
Petty Officer First Class David M. Tapper, 32, of Camden County, New Jersey,
died of wounds received in action August 20, 2003 in Afghanistan.

Often called upon to conduct the most harrowing
missions, Tapper took part in the April rescue of wounded POW Jessica Lynch,
then helped recover the bodies of nine American soldiers buried near the
Iraqi hospital where she was held, according to friends and the Tapper
family.

After serving in Iraq for two months, Tapper,
a father of four, returned to Camden County for a visit during a six-week
leave in early summer. Tapper, who had spent most of his 13-year naval
career as a SEAL, was reluctant to return to the war zone.

"He said it was too soon," said a sister, who
spoke for the family. "He wanted to stay with his children and spend more
time with his family in Atco."

But, duty called again last month, this time
sending him to Afghanistan, where an increasingly overlooked and vastly
dangerous mission to rout the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists grinds on.

Tapper, 32, died there Wednesday while conducting
combat operations in a lawless province near the Pakistani border - an
area where the military believes the terrorists are operating.

Friends here said Tapper was shot in the back
during an ambush. He died later at a hospital at Bagram Air Base, the Navy
said.

"David fought a good fight and accomplished
his mission in life," said the sister, who asked not to be identified by
name. "We know that he is in Heaven and it was the Lord's will to take
him there."

A Navy spokesman declined to discuss Tapper's
unit or its mission in Afghanistan.

Tapper's wife and four children live in Virginia
Beach, Va., where his unit was stationed, but he has a large family in
the Atco area, where he grew up and graduated from Edgewood High School
in 1989.

The youngest of six children - and the only
boy - Tapper was extremely close with his mother, Judi, an agent for Weichert
Realtors, friends said. One sister died when she was young, they said.
Judi Tapper was proud of her son's service, yet devastated by the loss
of the family protector.

"We grew up with him protecting his mother
and sisters," one sister said. "Then he grew up to protect his country."

Tapper's family, both here and in Virginia,
have shunned most requests for interviews. Some friends said the Navy has
cautioned them against speaking out because of the sensitive nature of
Tapper's missions.

Services will be held for him in Atco and at
Arlington National Cemetery, said the Rev. Joe Beggs, pastor of Atco United
Presbyterian Church. Beggs said details had not been finalized. Tapper
grew up attending the Atco church, where Beggs has been pastor for 17 years.
Tapper's sister said he wrote the congregants, thanking them for their
prayers while he was fighting in Iraq.

"He said he and everyone in his team could
feel the prayers protecting them," Beggs said. "He's been an amazing hero
for us."

Beggs said Tapper closely guarded the secrets
of his missions.

"He said, 'Joe, don't ask me what I'm doing.
Even if I was allowed tell you, you wouldn't want to know.' "

He said Tapper was a "lively kid" who came
from a religious family. Tapper's sister said, "God's hand kept him safe
when he was in Iraq."

Beggs said Tapper also had fought in Afghanistan
shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Waterford Township, which includes Atco, was
already awash in patriotism, with military families displaying banners
furnished by the local American Legion post in their windows. The flag
at the municipal building was lowered to half staff yesterday at the municipal
building.

At the Atco Diner, a hub of community activity,
Tapper's death dominated the conversations of a saddened lunch crowd yesterday.
Owner Laurie Toussaint, who is also Waterford's mayor, talked about the
death while holding a phone in one hand and serving a plate of scrapple
and eggs with the other.

"It's hard to watch a family you've known for
30 years so devastated," she said.

Tapper was the fourth Navy SEAL from the Virginia
Beach area to die in Afghanistan. Many of the 1,200 SEALs based in Virginia
are stationed at the Little Creek Amphibious Base.

Lieutenant John Perkins, a SEALs spokesman,
and a military expert both said the missions in Afghanistan can be extremely
dangerous.

As opposed to some special forces that also
collect intelligence, SEALs are designated almost primarily for combat,
said Anthony Cordesman, with the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington.

Tapper was listed as a Photographer's Mate
First Class Petty Officer, but Cordesman said "titles are meaningless"
in the SEAL teams.

Tapper enlisted in the Navy after high school,
in November 1989, with the intention of making the highly competitive SEAL
teams, friends said. He graduated from SEAL training in San Diego in 1991.

He met his wife, Tracy, in California, said
Tapper's sister. The couple had two boys and two girls, ages 3, 5, 8 and
11.

While overseas on missions, his family had
no way to contact him, either through mail or by phone. But Tapper had
called his wife and children on Sunday and Monday. One of his sisters was
visiting then and spoke to him - for the last time.

Tapper turned 32 on August 16, 2003, four days
before the death that has left his family reeling.

"We got to spend quality time with him when
he was home. He came down one weekend and then he surprised us and came
down a second weekend," the sister said. "He was a loving and dedicated
father. He lived for his children and his wife."

David M. Tapper, 32, an Atco native and Navy
SEAL killed last week during a combat mission in Afghanistan, will be buried
tomorrow with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

A memorial service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
September 5 in the auditorium of Winslow Township High School, which was
Edgewood High School when Mr. Tapper graduated in 1989. His family will
receive visitors there starting at 6:30 p.m.

The Navy has planned a private memorial service
for Mr. Tapper today at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia
Beach, Virginia, where he was stationed.

The husband and father of four died Aug. 20
after he was shot near Orgun in Paktika province. A member of an elite
SEAL team, he was conducting combat operations in the lawless province,
Navy officials said. He died at a hospital at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

His family said he had been shot in the back
during an ambush.

Mr. Tapper, a high school wrestler, joined
the Navy shortly after graduation. In 1991, he completed SEAL training
in San Diego and spent 12 of his 13 years in the military with the SEALs,
a special forces arm of the Navy.

He was listed as a Photographer's Mate First
Class Oetty Officer. He had received numerous awards and commendations,
including the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Navy and Marine
Corps Achievement Medal.

Mr. Tapper served in Afghanistan shortly after
the September 11 attacks, and spent two months this year fighting in Iraq,
his family and friends said. Mr. Tapper took part in the rescue of wounded
American POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital, then helped recover
the bodies of nine U.S. soldiers buried there, they said.

He was called back to the fighting in Afghanistan
this summer, his family said.

"David fought a good fight and accomplished
his mission in life," one of his sisters said last week. "We know that
he is in heaven, and it was the Lord's will to take him there."

Mr. Tapper is survived by his wife, Tracey;
their children, Raimen, Vanessa, Talia and Jared; his mother, Judith, and
her husband, George Youngkin; his father, Ken, and his wife, Dot; grandparents
Pete and Edith Claypoole; and sisters Judi Dowell, Ruth Berwick, Brenda
Banes and Diana Hicks.

Donations to a fund for Mr. Tapper's wife and
children can be made to Atco United Presbyterian Church, 2259 Atco Avenue,
Atco, New Jersey 08004. Checks should be made payable to the church, but
marked for the Tapper Memorial Fund in the memo portion.

US soldier killed in Afghanistan August 23, 2003

A U.S. special operations soldier has been
killed in action in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said yesterday,
while in a neighbouring province coalition troops arrested four people
and seized weapons stored in caves by insurgents.

The soldier died from wounds after operations
near Orgun in Paktika province on Wednesday, a statement on the US military
Central Command website said.

The Department of Defense identified him as
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David M. Tapper, 32, of Camden County, New
Jersey.

On Thursday, U.S. military in Afghanistan announced
that another coalition soldier had been slightly injured by a bomb while
on patrol in the same region on the same day. It was not immediately clear
whether the two incidents were linked.

About 11,500 troops of the US-led coalition
are in Afghanistan hunting down remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and
their allies.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia. The U.S. Department
of Defense confirmed Thursday that a Virginia-based Navy SEAL was killed
in combat in Afghanistan.

David M. Tapper, 32, a Navy photographer's
mate first class petty officer, was wounded on Wednesday after his convoy
encountered enemy forces near Orgun, in Paktika Province. He died later
that day at a hospital at Bagram Air Base, Navy spokesman Lieutenant John
Perkins said.

Tapper, a 13-year Navy SEAL veteran based in
Virginia Beach, was in Afghanistan conducting operations in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom, the Navy said.

Originally from Camden County, New Jersey,
Tapper enlisted in November 1989 and graduated from SEAL training in San
Diego in 1991.